SUV Tent to Trailer Trip Switch

[Boondocks2Badlands]

We've owned our BL for 3 years now and have loved / made use of every moment of it.
I bought an SUV tent last year for camping and it was great but after discussing it this summer we decided a trailer would make the most sense, somehow within two weeks I bought a 95' Coleman Roanoke tent trailer.

Took 4 days to gut with renovations but we were happy with the new rig.
First shake down trip was only 20 minutes away, learned a few tricks and then we head north to Algonquin provincial park for the Labour Day weekend.

Took the back roads and had a riot driving riverside gravel roads on the way while adding almost 2 hours to our trip for fun and sense of adventure.

Trailer weighed 995lbs at the start, probably added another 400lbs with gear and reno extras like flooring.

The BL towed it like a dream and even my wife towed her first trailer after she got car sick on the back roads and wanted to switch out.

In her intimidating words" I forgot something was back there" lol

Gas milage took a small dip but nothing of note.

Next year I'm planning on flipping the trailer for a small hardside and renovating that next.

 

[jkernitzki]

Mileage is more affected by sail area than weight, so the popup wouldn’t be much of a ding. Even a teardrop would be negligible. Move to a more traditional box on wheels you can stand up in, and watch it drop like a rock.

 

[Garth]

That is pretty good gas mileage. You are living my dream.

 

[Boondocks2Badlands]

Mileage is more affected by sail area than weight, so the popup wouldn’t be much of a ding. Even a teardrop would be negligible. Move to a more traditional box on wheels you can stand up in, and watch it drop like a rock.

Ill find out next season I guess, I grew up in pop ups as a kid so I dont mind the set up every time but it would be nice to just roll up ready to go!

 

[Garth]

I was looking at Aliners after watching a set up video for a conventional tent trailer. The nice ones are a little heavy it seems.

 

[Boondocks2Badlands]

I was looking at Aliners after watching a set up video for a conventional tent trailer. The nice ones are a little heavy it seems.

They're heavier than you'd think, and I've heard they wear and break easily if they're not set up on super level ground.
The problem I've found with the small lightweight trailer market is they are a.) Overpriced since they're a larger market and b.) i DONT WANT A SHOWER IN A SMALL TRAILER!! LOL
They always try to shove that in there for no reason, Its 14s2 feet leave it be

 

[Garth]

I saw a video of a guy comparing his Rockwood to an Aliner, interesting.

 

[Escape2Bronco]

I bought a used mid 70’s Cox pop up tent camper in the early 80’s for 200.00 to make a utility trailer out of. It was in nearly perfect shape when I opened it up other than it smelled like an old canvas tent. It literally was a canvas tent that opened up on a 6.5 x 8 box. Half the top flipped to the front, half to the back. It was uglier than sin to look at but worked great. I used it for nearly 20 years until the kids grew up. Then it fulfilled its lifelong dream to become a 4x8 utility trailer. 50 years later, the frame is still rolling.

Moral of the story, nothing wrong with a good pop up trailer.

 

[TrueNorthSport]

That is pretty good gas mileage. You are living my dream.

Agreed, that is good mileage for a 2L Badlands. Our 2025 Big Bend (1.5L) is using about 7 L / 100 km on the highway without pulling a trailer.

Cheers

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